Dark Heresy Cruelty

[Imperial Overlord]

Rather than necro the review thread, I'm posting the latest bout of 40K from my table top group here. This time I'm the perpetrator.

I GM our group about 80% of the time and for the last few months have enjoyed a long stretch of playing with one GM running Dark Heresy and the other running Earthdawn. Burn out and absence has put me back into the Throne of Pain for a while.

So I started a new Dark Heresy game. Generous character creation (roll or 110 point buy, roll twice on Divination and Sanctioning charts and take the one you want, double money 1500xp instead of 400) were the prelude to me opening the gates of hell on them. Literally.

The players were all passengers on the chartist vessel Misericord. None of them took the option of starting as crew. I intended to start with first session with some a brutal struggle to the death to unite the characters in a shared desperation to stay alive and to fill the rest of the campaign with the menace that a nightmarish death could occur at just about any moment.

So I had the Gellar field blow out in the middle of dinner. Back ups kicked in after about 30 seconds, but the players were making Willpower rolls to avoid getting Corruption Points. Not all of them were successful. Then the employer of two of the characters ripped out another man's throat, having been possessed in that terrible interval.

Fear tests, more Insanity and Corruption Points, and some panicked running left two characters fighting the possessee (a weak one) with combat knives and less than optimal psychic powers. The Tech Priest wasn't with them at the moment, having gone to visit a shrine and thus his handy electropriest powers weren't there to back them up.

One of the characters ran away . . . and straight into the incarnate lesser daemon that was going to be the next menace. Oops. Violence insued. Terrible violence. It was proven that it is possible to defeat embodied minor warp entities with combat knives, but it is very fucking hard and likely to cost someone a burned fate point.

Meanwhile the tech priest encountered plague zombies. He fried them and retreated, meeting up with Important Contact NPC Interrogator Valerus Demetrius. Demetrius had psi tracker readings of multiple dangerous entities and only so many bodies. The tech priest (one of the more combative members of the Priesthood of Mars and doing a very good job role-playing) was more than willing to engage one of the warp beings who dared defile the domain of the Omnissiah.

He hooked up with the other players and they got their armour, remaining personal weapons, and the contents of one of the Merciful (ship's enforcers) arms locker. They pushed their way into ghost decks of the Misericord, passed a huge empty dining gallery and into a pack a plague zombies. The session ended with them fighting away at close quarters.

And I inflicted enough Corruption Points on one of the assassins that she developed a Malignancy. 7 points of Palsy. Ouch.

I predict two casualties, mental, physical, or spiritual; by the end of the third session.

[Ford Prefect]

You have black, icy heart, IO.

[Raj Ahten]

That game sounds awesome. If for no other reson because I could try a lot of different character ideas and get to kill demons, which is frankly a public service, even in the dark future. It is also just cool.

[Zablorg]

Nice touch with the plague zombies. It would have been ever so fun if BL had put them in.

[Imperial Overlord]

Nice touch with the plague zombies. It would have been ever so fun if BL had put them in.

They only had so much room and there is still the cult sourcebook to come out.

I'm using pretty close to normal human stats WS 25, Agility 20, Strength & Toughness 30, 10 Wounds. The fact that stuns, fatigue, and bleeding do jack to them means they can take a lot more punishment than a typical human. Their fingertips have rotted off, giving them bone claws with Toxic so they can dish out some pain if they get close.

[white_rabbit]

Nice touch with the plague zombies. It would have been ever so fun if BL had put them in.

They only had so much room and there is still the cult sourcebook to come out.

I'm using pretty close to normal human stats WS 25, Agility 20, Strength & Toughness 30, 10 Wounds. The fact that stuns, fatigue, and bleeding do jack to them means they can take a lot more punishment than a typical human. Their fingertips have rotted off, giving them bone claws with Toxic so they can dish out some pain if they get close.

There is a "Warp Zombie" entry in Purge the Unclean, WS22 AG12, S+T 40, 18 wounds with primative weapons, (claws and teef)

[Imperial Overlord]

There is a "Warp Zombie" entry in Purge the Unclean, WS22 AG12, S+T 40, 18 wounds with primative weapons, (claws and teef)

A little too tough for plague zombies. When your flesh is slightly solider than running goo, Toughness 40 and 18 Wounds is a bit much.

Honestly, despite blowing off the little finger off the Guardsman and starting to break the Assassin's mind, I'm not trying to kill them. I will kill them mercilessly if it comes down to that, but its not like that's the aim of the session. A number of choices worked out very badly for them.

1) No one played ship's crew, despite less than subtle clues from me. This meant no one was packing serious heat when trouble broke out, no one knows their way around the ship very well, and no one knows where to get their hands on some even better gear. Partially alleviated by looting a security station.

2) Tech priest and his built in electro voodoo was elsewhere when the shit started to hit the fan.

3) Psyker has psi level 2 and doesn't have Healing. Which means Wound recovery in a party pretty much devoid of people with Medicae isn't so hot.

4) One character running away . . . . straight into trouble instead of helping.

5) No one availing themselves of the wonderfully dangerous contents of the kitchen in the first fights.

6) Really, absolutely horrible fear and corruption tests by the assassin blowing her up to ten corruption points.

[white_rabbit]

There is a "Warp Zombie" entry in Purge the Unclean, WS22 AG12, S+T 40, 18 wounds with primative weapons, (claws and teef)

A little too tough for plague zombies. When your flesh is slightly solider than running goo, Toughness 40 and 18 Wounds is a bit much.

Honestly, despite blowing off the little finger off the Guardsman and starting to break the Assassin's mind, I'm not trying to kill them. I will kill them mercilessly if it comes down to that, but its not like that's the aim of the session. A number of choices worked out very badly for them.

1) No one played ship's crew, despite less than subtle clues from me. This meant no one was packing serious heat when trouble broke out, no one knows their way around the ship very well, and no one knows where to get their hands on some even better gear. Partially alleviated by looting a security station.

2) Tech priest and his built in electro voodoo was elsewhere when the shit started to hit the fan.

3) Psyker has psi level 2 and doesn't have Healing. Which means Wound recovery in a party pretty much devoid of people with Medicae isn't so hot.

4) One character running away . . . . straight into trouble instead of helping.

5) No one availing themselves of the wonderfully dangerous contents of the kitchen in the first fights.

6) Really, absolutely horrible fear and corruption tests by the assassin blowing her up to ten corruption points.

Yeah, these Zombs have a rule for being unkillable except for head/chest chest shots as well as being frenzied, able to see in the dark/smell etc.

Hence "warp" zombs I suppose!

Theres a short story from inferno, I don't think its been republished in an anthology yet, which is something I think would make good Dark Heresy fodder with some alteration, more intrigue, less balls to the wall hyperviolence.

Its basically a bunch of IIRC Deathwatchers, acolyte types investigating the loss of a fleet. Eventually they all end up on the flagship, and it turns out everyones a Plague zomb in a really cool scene where they are IIRC in a Hangar and unlock all the IG drop pods at a terminal and regiments of Zombies start to troop out!

Cue 24 hour long sustained survival, classic zombie horde trek to a defendable point, (an armoury) then simply survive the Zombies!
Obviously its a touch more suited to the proposed Space Marine RPG, but I think it'd be fun for Heresy if tweaked.


Plague Zombs have got a nasty vomit attack as well, or at least "chaos" plague zombs have, your guys sound more like Necromunda neuron plague Zombies ?


Have you read the Souldrinker books ? Theres some good fodder for Plague Zomb scenarios in there, including a Big Bad if you are trying to spin it out into a campaign.

6) Really, absolutely horrible fear and corruption tests by the assassin blowing her up to ten corruption points.

She sounds like shes heading towards sprouting eyeball tentacles at this rate

" You degenerate into a chaos spawn, reroll another character!"

[Imperial Overlord]

Plague Zombs have got a nasty vomit attack as well, or at least "chaos" plague zombs have, your guys sound more like Necromunda neuron plague Zombies ?

No vomit. Dark, powerless corridors in the ghost decks with one light source (that's not even me trying to screw them, just the way things worked out) makes close combat zombie action more than nasty enough. Honestly, I'm not trying to kill the players. I'm not that merciful.

Have you read the Souldrinker books ? Theres some good fodder for Plague Zomb scenarios in there, including a Big Bad if you are trying to spin it out into a campaign.

Yes, I have read a few of the Souldrinker books. "The Imperium is so corrupt and evil. We are pure. Let's ally with this bunch of Dark Eldar and Slaaneshi cultists so we can try and recapture one demented Marine. We'll have to kill a fuckton of IG though. What could go wrong? And we still have the moral high ground? Right? Right?"

The plague zombies have a boss. This is only step one of the campaign. This is how they get press ganged into the Inquisition. Supposing they survive this, its off to scenic Scintilla.

[Imperial Overlord]

So, more pain and suffering. Got a new character, a Voidborn psyker as Brahm rejoined the group after an absence. He was press ganged to join the group and showed up after they dispatched the plague zombies in a rather one sided battle. They pressed on and found a room with a big nasty Nurglesque symbol on the floor, a handful of plague zombies, and a possessee.

They disrupted the ritual and managed to survive the daemon's attack, eventually inflicting enough damage with shotguns for a devastating laser burst to put it down. Many fragile minds were broken as about a dozen new Insanity points were earned and another dozen or so Corruption points were passed out.

No one died. No one went too deranged.

In the aftermath it was revealed that the bodies of several saboteurs had been discovered and examined. They had enough knowledge to disable the Gellar Fields, which didn't prove fatal because the Misericord is a conglomeration of several vessels and was able to engage additional field generators shortly after the failure. Leads are being investigated and the characters are going to trace the origin of one, an apparent underhive ganger. They have 6,000 Thrones as an operating budget in addition to their regular pay and gear.

[Raj Ahten]

They have 6,000 Thrones as an operating budget in addition to their regular pay and gear.

The Emperor demands efficiency! so 6,000 thrones is plenty to investigate a cult with enough knowledge to sabotage a ship and not just operate in one district. So, do tey have any backup at all? Perhaps an unreliable local milita pretending to be police?

[Imperial Overlord]

They have 6,000 Thrones as an operating budget in addition to their regular pay and gear.

The Emperor demands efficiency! so 6,000 thrones is plenty to investigate a cult with enough knowledge to sabotage a ship and not just operate in one district.

No. It's 6000 thrones to chase down one probable dead end, with a contact code to get a message to the interrogator if they need to use it. Let me be clear: this is just the first stage of the investigation and all the likely leads are going to more experienced agents. It's quite reasonable, considering that they already have gear and a good idea where to look.

Since some of my players will be reading this (Umbras, btw, your guess was almost spot on and quite good, give yourself 15xp for it) I won't go into details about the later stages of the investigation and where they will lead. Increasing resources will be made available as the game progresses. The interrogator does not have an unlimited slush fund.

So, do tey have any backup at all? Perhaps an unreliable local milita pretending to be police?

They have a contact code for a senior interrogator who has other agents and is on world. So yes, they have back up if they step into something really hairy.

[Raj Ahten]

I'd be quite happy with that level of backup myself. As an aside, I'm generally unhappy as a player unless I have enough equipment for the task at hand. For chaos cultists, I'd tend to believe heavy weapons would be in order. Just in case, even if I don't use them. The cultists might have demons after all.

[Imperial Overlord]

I'd be quite happy with that level of backup myself. As an aside, I'm generally unhappy as a player unless I have enough equipment for the task at hand. For chaos cultists, I'd tend to believe heavy weapons would be in order. Just in case, even if I don't use them. The cultists might have demons after all.

They're after underhive gangers and they have lots of close quarters weapons already. If they stumble directly onto chaos cultists, instead of just useful bits of information, the almighty hand of the Emperor in the form of Inquisition will be with them. They're on Scintilla. The Inquisition has a gigantic fortress on planet.

Also, never give a player everything they want. That gives them something to look forward to earning.

[Raj Ahten]

Also, never give a player everything they want. That gives them something to look forward to earning.

My philosophy as a GM has always been give the PC's the tools to do the job, unless their employer is poor or I am making a big deal out of there being supply shortages. I guess I've had too many GM's that simply never seemed to give us enough equipment at all, and with the rules sets I use even a guy with a .38 is still a threat to heavily armed PC's. However, when my players request RPG's in a hostage rescue situation, I say no.

[Imperial Overlord]

My philosophy as a GM has always been give the PC's the tools to do the job, unless their employer is poor or I am making a big deal out of there being supply shortages. I guess I've had too many GM's that simply never seemed to give us enough equipment at all, and with the rules sets I use even a guy with a .38 is still a threat to heavily armed PC's. However, when my players request RPG's in a hostage rescue situation, I say no.

That's a totally different issue. The GM issuing insufficient equipment when it doesn't make sense in game is bad GMing. That's as bad as just giving them shit because they want it. The players aren't important agents, they're chasing a underhive gang of modest size, and they're already have plenty of guns, armour, and ammo. And they have loot. Their mission won't take too long either.

This is not a case of "we don't have enough elite stormtroopers for this mission so take this rusty knife, old grenade, torn flak vest, and .38 to storm the sorcerer's lair."

[Raj Ahten]

My philosophy as a GM has always been give the PC's the tools to do the job, unless their employer is poor or I am making a big deal out of there being supply shortages. I guess I've had too many GM's that simply never seemed to give us enough equipment at all, and with the rules sets I use even a guy with a .38 is still a threat to heavily armed PC's. However, when my players request RPG's in a hostage rescue situation, I say no.

That's a totally different issue. The GM issuing insufficient equipment when it doesn't make sense in game is bad GMing. That's as bad as just giving them shit because they want it. The players aren't important agents, they're chasing a underhive gang of modest size, and they're already have plenty of guns, armour, and ammo. And they have loot. Their mission won't take too long either.

This is not a case of "we don't have enough elite stormtroopers for this mission so take this rusty knife, old grenade, torn flakvest, and .38 to storm the sorcerer's lair."

I'm not trying to criticize you, just telling about my point of view on how I normally do things. I find giving out plenty of gear also takes the emphasis off equipment, and hopefully more onto the story (doesn't work out that way all the time though). And it sounds like you've given your group plenty of support. Though assaulting a sorcerers lair with a .38 and a rusty knife could be amusing.

[Imperial Overlord]

I don't bend the game world to fuck the players and I don't bend it to gear them up either.

[Umbras]

As one of the people having the honor of playing in IO's games he has always been more than fair in any encounter we have run into in his games.

He is an expert in setting the mood of every situation and balancing the setting to give us a sense of urgency and danger. This in turn gives us a greater sense of accomplishment when we over come the challenges he sets before us.

I can honestly say as a player in his games, he has only had the rare occasion where any of the players walked away with a negative attitude towards his skills as a GM. If it does happen its usually due to someone wanting to munchkinize their character and he calls them on it.

Having over geared characters lessens the setting and encounter imo, I as a player prefer to have the sense of "oh fuck, can we survive this?" in games I play.

[The Yosemite Bear]

nasty I like it...

[Imperial Overlord]

As one of the people having the honor of playing in IO's games he has always been more than fair in any encounter we have run into in his games.

This is a slanderous lie. No one believe him. The truth is I've been mostly fair. I've made a few bad calls in my time.

He is an expert in setting the mood of every situation and balancing the setting to give us a sense of urgency and danger. This in turn gives us a greater sense of accomplishment when we over come the challenges he sets before us.

Flattery won't net you that much bonus xp.

Having over geared characters lessens the setting and encounter imo, I as a player prefer to have the sense of "oh fuck, can we survive this?" in games I play.

You usually do walk away from it. Not necessarily the case with the rest of the party and the fights you pick.

[Umbras]

As one of the people having the honor of playing in IO's games he has always been more than fair in any encounter we have run into in his games.

This is a slanderous lie. No one believe him. The truth is I've been mostly fair. I've made a few bad calls in my time.

He is an expert in setting the mood of every situation and balancing the setting to give us a sense of urgency and danger. This in turn gives us a greater sense of accomplishment when we over come the challenges he sets before us.

Flattery won't net you that much bonus xp.

Having over geared characters lessens the setting and encounter imo, I as a player prefer to have the sense of "oh fuck, can we survive this?" in games I play.

You usually do walk away from it. Not necessarily the case with the rest of the party and the fights you pick.

To be fair to IO, we do drive him nuts at times. Many a time he has had to , as you say beat us with a 2x4 in order to guide us along a story line he has taken time to develop. Our gaming group can compared to a child who does not want to stay within the lines when coloring a picture

[Imperial Overlord]

Its not when you do something unusual that I mind, its when you work towards something and then abandon it just before doing it after I've had to put all that work in developing an encounter/journey that you abort at the last minute.

GM not like that. GM smash puny players.

[The Yosemite Bear]

it's when someone's character asks "you remember to save the game right?"

[Academia Nut]

Well, my friends asked me to run a game for them, and things got a little interesting, especially with the Psychic phenomena rolls. The two most memorable were when one psyker tried to use spasm and managed to make the floor spasm instead of the mutant attacking, and when the same psyker accidentally summoned forth a daemonette. I went easy on them really, I kept forgetting all of the fear penalties they should have had.